Xbox parent Microsoft announced today their plan of absence in the Game Developers Conference in San Fransisco, citing the global emergence over coronavirus.
Referring to the “wellbeing” of Microsoft’s team and community on their official blog post, they confirmed having withdrawn from the yearly conference. Furthermore, the Xbox-maker says they’ll go digital to announce their plans for the year from March 16th to 18th.
Here at Epic we were excited about participating in GDC 2020. Regrettably, uncertainty around health concerns has made it unviable to send our employees, and so we have made the difficult decision to withdraw attendance.
Stay tuned for Epic news and more through other channels.
Microsoft is not the first, and certainly not the last company to withdraw from this year’s Game Developers Conference.
The developments have come to light after U.S. officials declared a state of health emergency in San Fransisco this week. Coronavirus has now engulfed forty-eight countries with cases in Italy and other parts of Europe soaring this week.
Coronavirus (COVID-19), thus far, has claimed more than 2900 lives, and more than 1,00,000 seem to be tested positive worldwide with this deadly virus.
Game developersโeager to show off projects currently in developmentโpulled back on planned appearances at big-time gaming conventions. At least one game release has been pushed back due to office closures related to the outbreak. Event cancellations also have affected the burgeoning world of competitive gamingโwhere China and South Korea are big-time markets.
The virus isnโt necessarily bad news for videogame stocks. Though there could be hits to gaming companiesโ supply chains, gaming firms in China have already seen a notable spike in active users, something U.S. firms could see, too, if schools and offices close here.
Sonyย (ticker: 6758.Japan), which plans to launch its PlayStation 5 console this holiday season and has a handful of major game releases coming soon, canceled its participation in bothย this weekendโs PAX East fan conventionย in Boston and the Game Developers Conference, or GDC, in mid-March in San Francisco. These kinds of conferences have historically been used to generate buzz and media coverage surrounding the coming products.
A Sony representative referred to its statement published in gamesindustry.biz.
โWe felt this was the best option as the situation related to the virus and global travel restrictions are changing daily,โ the company said. โWe are disappointed to cancel our participation, but the health and safety of our global workforce is our highest concern.โ
An Electronic Arts (EA) spokesperson told Barronโs it canceled its official participation in GDC and limited attendance to other events as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
โHaving closely followed the global situation with Coronavirus and with the recent escalation of cases in new regions, we have decided to take additional steps to protect the wellbeing of our employees including the restriction of all non-essential travel,โ the company said.
Take-Two Interactive Software โs (TTWO) Private Division subsidiary said earlier this month that it needed to delay the release of its Outer Worlds release for the Nintendo Switch. Private Division said on Twitter that the team porting the title to the Switch had been affected by coronavirus-related office closures. The company did attend PAX East.
Both Activision Blizzard and Tencent were forced to rearrange their global esports schedules. Activisionโs Overwatch League has 20 teams representing 19 cities, including four Chinese teams and one based in Seoul, South Korea. The league has canceled a handful of in-person events planned for China, and though there were hopes to reschedule the matches in South Korea instead, all events in South Korea through March 22 have since been canceled.
Tencentโs Riot Games subsidiary has regional leagues around the world for its League of Legends videogame. Its China-based League of Legends Pro League was meant to begin its second week after a break for the Lunar New Year. Instead, matches have been postponed until the league โcan ensure the safety and health of our players and fans.โ
Riot also has yet to share location and timing details for its Mid-Season Invitational event. John Needham, Riot Gamesโ global head of esports,ย saidย the coronavirus outbreak led the company to adjust its plans and delay an announcement. MSI is Riotโs second-biggest tournament, held annually in early-to-mid May.
Modern Time Groupโsย (MTG.B) ESL subsidiary will host its Intel Extreme Masters Katowice esports event in an empty arena. The company was informed Thursday afternoonโjust before the eventโthat provincial government officials in Poland would revoke its mass-event license. An ESL representative said the decision was related to the coronavirus.
The variant 0.17.0 update to PUBG MOBILE has been expected for quite a while as the new treats have been accessible in the beta adaptation for half a month. A great deal is yet to accompany the following update and PUBG MOBILE has begun prodding it by means of its internet-based life channels.
In the midst of a large group of highlights, PUBG MOBILE is presently getting the much-anticipated Death Replay mode. This is a component that can possibly change the manner in which individuals play this game.
Death Replay
The Death Replay is basically, as the name proposes, an element that shows you toward the finish of the match how you were killed.
When the match closes, the game will show a replay of your last minutes in a specific match concentrating on how your adversary got you. To beginners or even experts playing PUBG MOBILE, this can be much increasingly supportive. A short replay of how you were slaughtered in the last match can let players gain from their missteps.
A comparable element has been accessible on the PC form of PUBG for quite a while. Players on PUBG find a workable pace they were killed in the wake of being taken out of the match.
With this component making it to the versatile adaptation of the game, it will make PUBG MOBILE significantly more amicable to new players. Hackers will soon be put to question when Death Replay comes to effect!
MIAMI,ย Feb. 27, 2020,ย Torque Esports Corp.ย (TSXV: GAME) (OTCQB:ย MLLLF) is building its leadership expertise with confirmation of a key new leadership appointment โ industry veteranย Darcy Lorinczย as COO.ย
Reporting to President and CEO Darren Cox, Lorincz is initially focused on integrating the businesses within the Torque Esport Group which includes gaming studio, Eden Games; streaming data analysis experts, Stream Hatchet; esports competition provider, UMG; racing simulator manufacturer, Allinsports, and esports competition promoter and marketing firm, IDEAS+CARS.
Leveraging three decades of experience and leadership as a pioneer in the live event streaming space, Lorincz has been instrumental in bringing UMG gaming into the Torque family.
Additionally, he will focus on the integration of the assets brought together by the impending merger of Torque Esports, Frankly Media, and WinView Games into the new entity โ Engine Media.
“We’re thrilled to bring Darcy’s expertise into our organization. His experience in building digital media businesses, delivering tens of thousands of live events in sports and entertainment will be vital for us as Engine Media emerges and grows,” Cox said.
“He will play an essential role in ensuring our brands and companies not only consolidate resources but work together to provide complete end-to-end solutions for brands in the esports marketplace.”
Lorincz’s career highlights have included time with BBC Technology as VP Americas โ designing and implementing an international strategy to identify, exploit, distribute, and support software developed at BBC, automating digital broadcast workflows.
He was a pioneer in live streaming as EVP at Global Crossing & SAVVIS (Century Link), Chief Executive Officer at Origin Digital, and as Global Managing Director for Accenture Sports & LIVE OTT.
“The transformation and disruption of media and entertainment continues from early days in sports and television to transformation of college sports, the emergence of action sports, and now esports” said Lorincz
“Today we are living in a digital native world which brings new challenges, opportunities, and experiences centered around competitive gaming. Torque has assembled the unique assets and leadership to take on these challenges, providing the platform and solutions for publishers and brands to leverage on this continuing digital journey.
“I am pleased to join Darren and his team to take on these challenges with this unique set of assets in the gaming entertainment industry.”
Gearbox has revealed a March 13 release date forย Borderlands 3ย on Steam. The announcement was made during PAX East 2020, where the studio also revealed that crossplay between Steam and Epic Games Store will be supported.
The multiplayer looter shooter has been on PC since it launched on September 13, but only through theย Epic Games Store. Some PC players prefer Valveโs digital storefront, so this will be happy news for Steam fans.
Mayhem is coming to Steam! #Borderlands3 releases on Steam March 13! Add it to your wishlist right now to be notified as soon as itโs available!
The United States Navy Recruiting Command has partnered with Twitch, Electronic Sports League (ESL), and DBLTAP for its esports initiative. North American esports organization Evil Geniuses will, in turn, be helping the U.S. Navy scout sailors for a prospectiveย Counter-Strike: Global Offensiveย (CSGO) team.
Through this process, the U.S. Navy hopes to facilitate a positive relationship with the gaming community.
In December, the Navy said it would shift most of its advertising budget away from traditional media like cable television and toward digital streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube.
Twitch will develop a six-episode miniseries showing how sailors use skills similar to ones used by professional gamers. The Navy hopes to have its new CS:GO team ready by TwitchCon 2020 so they can make an official appearance alongside members of Evil Geniuses.
The partnership with ESL includes sponsoring BYOC (bring your own computer) events during DreamHack competitions, including DreamHack Dallas from May 22-24.
The Navy will work with DBLTAP in developing Navy โRole Comparisonโ video content that features players from top esports teams to compare specific roles within the Navy to roles within esports.
Former Konami employee and creator of the famous
Konami code, Kazuhisa Hashimoto aged 61 has died. The news of his passing comes
after Konami confirmed the death on Wednesday, via a Tweet from official
account.
“We are saddened to hear about the passing of Kazuhisa Hashimoto, a deeply talented producer who first introduced the world to the ‘Konami Code.โ
We are saddened to hear about the passing of Kazuhisa Hashimoto, a deeply talented producer who first introduced the world to the "Konami Code".
Our thoughts are with Hashimoto-san's family and friends at this time. Rest In Peace. pic.twitter.com/vQijEQ8lU2
Konami code first in the 1986 release of Gradius for the NES, but the code saw rise in popularity with the release of Contra in North America. The code wasnโt intentional and accidentally made its way to the final game release. Kazuhisa Hashimoto was tasked with porting famous Konami arcade titles to NES. He added the code to playtest those notoriously difficult games with ease and save time on port. However, in the final release of games, he forgot to remove the code and it made its way to the consumer releases.
Since then the famous โUp, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A and Startโ code has made its way into countless other games and as well as in pop cultures, such as clothing, advertisements, and non-gaming related things such as officially appearing in Canadaโs commemorative $10 bill launch.
IEM Katowice 2020 heads into the Playoffs and while the Spodek Arena might have to be empty due to a late government decree, the Quarter-Finals are set to take place at Spodek on Friday. G2 and Astralis have already booked their place in the semi-finals and two from fnatic vs 100 Thieves and Natus Vincere vs Liquid will join them.
Fnatic vs 100 Thieves
100 Thieves shocked a lot of onlookers yesterday, ousting one of the favourites, mousesports en route to the Playoffs. Fnatic on the other hand, had a much easier route, beating Natus Vincere earlier to book their place but losing in straight maps to Astralis, which relegated them to the Quarter-Finals.
100 Thieves will be out for revenge for the 2-0 defeat at the hands of fnatic at ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals.
Coming to the map veto, fnatic are likely to ban Nuke, considering 100 Thieves just beat mousesports on the map in order to set up this fixture. 100 Thieves have been consistent with their Overpass ban and should continue to do so.
fnatic have persisted with the Inferno pick and although, it is a good map for 100 Thieves, Maikil ‘Golden’ Selim should fancy their chances on the map. 100 Thieves could whip out the Vertigo pick considering fnatic don’t play the map too often and their only appearance on the map at IEM Katowice 2020 came in a resounding defeat at the hands of Astralis.
fnatic haven’t played Train so far at IEM Katowice 2020 and are unlikely to do so, with Train their go-to ban after the respective map picks. 100 Thieves would favour their chances on Dust2 over Mirage and should ban the latter, leaving Dust2 as the decider.
Prediction
fnatic may have locked down their place in the Playoffs rather comfortably but it is 100 Thieves that come into the fixture on the back of momentum and if the map veto does pan out like we expect above, we could see the North American organization prevail and set up a Semi-final matchup with G2.
Natus Vincere vs Liquid
Photo via EPICENTER
Natus Vincere persevered over FAZE Clan with a 16-14 win on Map 3 of the Decider to get over the line and make the playoffs. Liquid on the other hand, were taught a lesson by G2 as the North Americans were unable to proceed directly to the semi-finals. Liquid will now have to battle Natus Vincere, with the winner going on to face Astralis in the semis.
Natus Vincere have shied away from Vertigo all Katowice and should continue to do so against a Liquid team that always look strong on the map. Liquid will likely proceed to ban Train.
The CIS giants should ideally pick Dust2, a map they seem to have more confidence in compared to any other potential picks, especially with Train banned as well. But, it is a bit tough to call and we could also see Natus Vincere pull out Nuke against Liquid. Interestingly, the two teams have never faced each other on Nuke. So, if Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev & co. do plan on picking Nuke, it will be an intriguing sight for the audience and the analysts.
Liquid on the other hand, will not hesitate one bit in picking Overpass against Natus Vincere. Natus Vincere should ban Mirage subsequently while Liquid proceed to ban the map left between Dust2 and Nuke, leaving Inferno as the decider.
Prediction
Dust2 has always been a close affair between the two and if Natus Vincere do pick it into Liquid, we could see a potential sweep from the North Americans. But, a Nuke pick would throw a wrench in Liquid’s plan and likely push things into Inferno, where the CIS giants would be favourites to clinch the series and set up an enticing clash with Astralis.
ESL have revealed through an announcement on their social media and media platforms that Intel Extreme Masters Katowice will not have a crowd at Spodek Arena for the Playoffs phase.
Due to the dynamic changes in the global health situation, the Gouverneur of Silesian Jarosลaw Wieczorek issued a decision to remove their approval regarding ESL hosting a mass event in Katowice, Poland. #IEMhttps://t.co/hak1sn98o7
The issued statement revealed that the Governor of Silesia Voivode, Jaroslaw Wieczorek, removed the earlier issued approval to IEM to host a mass event in Katowice, Poland over growing fears in the world due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
ESL have revealed that the tickets will be refunded and the announcement will have no effect on the schedule for the remainder of the event in Katowice. Fans will be gutted to miss the spectacle at Spodek Arena.
According to a report by Nick J from Win.GG, Valve has reportedly been working on itโs potential aesthetic plans which might be released soon in the near future. The air got filled with the news of this prospective when some of Valveโs files were leaked in the first place which did blow up the cover for some upcoming plans of player, team, tournament patches. These patches will probably modify the agent models with player autographs, team logos, and tournament logos.
Last week when ESL had announced itโs Louvre Agreement, it also had released a video on their twitter which showed us a glimpse of the Agent operators each with a team logo on their uniform.
The NEW truly global #ESLProLeague is here! Season 11 is going to be better than ever:
With this video up in the community, it might be a teaser for the fans for something big which is yet to come in Valveโs Famous FPS Title Counter Strike : Global Offensive. With the Patch Pack being already bought in the game, we might soon see the team logos along with the player autographs and tournament logos culminating in the game.
Image Credits : Win.gg
A SFUI command list has also been noticed in one ofย the leaked file ย which does confirm some potential aesthetics being inculcated in the game. Basically SFUI commands doe help the player to recognize a specific item when he/she hovers his/her mouse over it. We might soon be witnessing a teaser for the same either in the Ongoing Intel Extreme Masters Event in Katowice or In the Rio Major which are both hosted by ESL as the later has partnered with best 13 CS:GO teams which binds them with a confirmed slot at the ESL Pro tour circuit for an undefined period of time.
The agent models shown in the trailer are believed to be developed in Counter Strikeโs source 2 engine. But for now this specific plan is just a rumor with no confirmation from the Valve or any developers.
